A cancer research breakthrough

Queen's professor discovers immune markers that can predict ovarian cancer patients' response to treatment

2015-03-24

(Press-News.org) Queen's University cancer researcher Madhuri Koti has discovered a biomarker that will help lead to better predictions of the success of chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients. This discovery could lead to better treatment options in the fight against ovarian cancer. Biomarkers are an indicator of a biological state or condition. "Recent successes in harnessing the immune system to combat cancer are evidence for the significant roles of a cancer patient's immune responses in fighting cancer," explains Dr. Koti (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences). "Many of these success are based on boosting anti-cancer immunity via different therapies. Such therapies would prove to be most effective when coupled with markers predicting a patient's eventual response to a specific therapy." Dr. Koti conducted the study in retrospective cohorts of over 200 ovarian cancer patients. The study utilized a combination of recent cutting-edge and more established detection technologies for identifying such markers. Initial discovery of these markers was made in frozen tumor tissues accrued from tumor banks such as the Ontario Tumor Bank and the Ottawa Health Research Institute and Gynecology-Oncology and Pathology services of the CHUMHospital Notre-Dame, Montreal. Phase II validations are currently under way in retrospective cohorts of over 500 ovarian cancer patient tumors accrued from the Terry Fox Research Institute-Ovarian Cancer Canada partnered, Canadian Ovarian Experimental Unified Resource. A major impact of this discovery is that these novel markers, when used at the time of treatment initiation in the specific type of ovarian cancer patient, will help gynecologic oncologists make decisions on additional treatment needed in these patients, thus increasing the potential for patient survival. Ovarian cancer leads to approximately 152,000 deaths among women worldwide each year, making it a leading cause of gynecological cancer related deaths in women.

INFORMATION:

The study was conducted in collaboration with Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, and Jeremy Squire, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The findings were published recently in the British Journal of Cancer.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Disturbingly little known about microbeads and plastics in the Great Lakes

2015-03-24

National Democratic Party Member of Parliament Megan Leslie is calling on the Canadian government to list microbeads, tiny plastic flakes used in cosmetics, as a potential toxic substance. Health Canada claims the beads are safe for use as an additive, but Leslie says they pose a danger to the aquatic environment. Researchers at the University of Waterloo are warning that microbeads and plastic debris of all sizes could be a bigger environmental problem for the Great Lakes than previously thought. "We know more and more about ocean plastics, but, paradoxically, we have ...

Bar-Ilan U. researchers identify 'tipping point' between quantum and classical worlds

2015-03-24

If we are ever to fully harness the power of light for use in optical devices, it is necessary to understand photons - the fundamental unit of light. Achieving such understanding, however, is easier said than done. That's because the physical behavior of photons - similar to electrons and other sub-atomic particles - is characterized not by classical physics, but by quantum mechanics. Now, in a study published in Physical Review Letters, scientists from Bar-Ilan University have observed the point at which classical and quantum behavior converge. Using a fiber-based ...

NASA sees Nathan weakening near Darwin, Australia

2015-03-24

Tropical Cyclone Nathan has been weakening as it continued to move over land in Australia's Northern Territory on March 24. NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible picture of the storm over land. Just one day before the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite saw some heavy rainfall in Nathan. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured rainfall rate and cloud height data when it passed above Nathan on March 23, 2015 at 0631 UTC (2:31 a.m. EDT) before Nathan moved inland. Nathan had intensified and had hurricane force winds of about 65 knots ...

Ultimate Fighting Championship should save heavyweight fights for pay per view

2015-03-24

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts league, has experienced large growth in popularity and economic success in recent years. UFC has achieved this success by marketing to fans who attend live fighting events and who purchase Pay Per View (PPV) options to watch UFC events on television. Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri has found that fans' interest in the sport and, thus, their desire to spend money differs based on the venue. Nicholas Watanabe, an assistant professor of sport management in the MU Department of ...

Children less likely to come to the rescue when others are available

2015-03-24

Children as young as 5 years old are less likely to help a person in need when other children are present and available to help, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "The children in our study helped at very high levels only when responsibility was clearly attributable to them," explains psychological scientist and lead researcher Maria Plötner of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. "These findings suggest that children at this age take responsibility ...

Quarantine yes/no?

2015-03-24

The recent Ebola outbreak highlighted the challenges to governments and local public health authorities in determining when individuals or populations should be subjected to quarantine. While one state or country can legally enact such laws, others may not. In many instances unintended negative consequences have resulted, and the ensuing chaos has led to major frustration both for patients and medical staff, as well as for local authorities. Donna Barbisch, Institute for Global and Regional Readiness, and co-authors Kristi L. Koenig, UC Irvine, Center for Disaster Medical ...

Squeeze to remove heat: Elastocaloric materials enable more efficient, 'green' cooling

2015-03-24

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 24, 2015 -- Move over, vapor compression cooling technology. Emerging "elastocaloric" refrigeration is potentially much more efficient and, unlike vapor compression, relies on environmentally-friendly refrigerants. In elastocaloric materials a change in mechanical stress can create a change in temperature. In the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, a team of researchers from Technical University of Denmark report that the elastocaloric effect opens the door to alternative forms of solid-state refrigeration that are direct replacements ...

'Goldilocks material' could change spintronics

2015-03-24

WASHINGTON D.C., March 24, 2015 - Attempting to develop a novel type of permanent magnet, a team of researchers at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland has discovered a new class of magnetic materials based on Mn-Ga alloys. Described as a zero-moment half metal this week in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, the new Mn2RuxGa magnetic alloy has some unique properties that give it the potential to revolutionize data storage and significantly increase wireless data transmission speeds. The discovery realizes a goal researchers have sought for several ...

Study compares outcomes for stent vs. medications for narrowed artery within the brain

2015-03-24

Among patients with symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis (narrowing of an artery inside the brain), the use of a balloon-expandable stent compared with medical therapy (clopidogrel and aspirin) resulted in an increased of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), according to a study in the March 24/31 issue of JAMA. Intracranial arterial stenosis is a common cause of stroke worldwide. The recurrent stroke risk with severe symptomatic intracranial stenosis may be as high as 23 percent at 1 year, despite medical therapy, according to background information in the ...

Pay gap between male and female RNs has not narrowed

2015-03-24

An analysis of the trends in salaries of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States from 1988 through 2013 finds that male RNs outearned female RNs across settings, specialties, and positions, with no narrowing of the pay gap over time, according to a study in the March 24/31 issue of JAMA. Fifty years after the Equal Pay Act, the male-female salary gap has narrowed in many occupations. Yet pay inequality persists for certain occupations, including medicine and nursing. Studies have documented higher salaries for male registered nurses, although analyses have not considered ...

New species of tiny pumpkin toadlet discovered in Brazil highlights need for conservation in the mountain forests of Serra do Quiriri

Reciprocity matters--people were more supportive of climate policies in their country if they believed other countries were making significant efforts themselves

A cancer research breakthrough

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: